Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

464 results found

observatory, orbiting

(Encyclopedia)observatory, orbiting, research satellite designed to study solar radiation, electromagnetic radiation from distant stars, the earth's atmosphere, or the like. Because the atmosphere and other aspects...

Arctic Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Arctic Ocean, the smallest ocean, c.5,400,000 sq mi (13,986,000 sq km), located entirely within the Arctic Circle and occupying the region around the North Pole. The Arctic basin was almost wholly u...

State, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)State, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government responsible, under the President's direction, for the making and execution of American foreign policy. Before and ...

earthquake

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Worldwide pattern of earthquake activity: The dots indicate the epicenters of all earthquakes recorded during a recent 10-year period. CE5 earthquake, trembling or shaking movement of the ea...

colleges and universities

(Encyclopedia)colleges and universities, institutions of higher education. Universities differ from colleges in that they are larger, have wider curricula, are involved in research activities, and grant graduate an...

planet

(Encyclopedia)planet [Gr.,=wanderer], a large nonluminous body of rock, gas, or ice that orbits the sun or another star, has a rounded shape due to gravity, and has cleared its orbit of smaller objects. The term, o...

African languages

(Encyclopedia)African languages, geographic rather than linguistic classification of languages spoken on the African continent. Historically the term refers to the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, which do not belo...

light

(Encyclopedia)light, visible electromagnetic radiation. Of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, the human eye is sensitive to only a tiny part, the part that is called light. The wavelengths of visible light range ...

computer

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Schematic diagram of a computer system: Data flow is indicated by solid lines; control signals are indicated by dashed lines. computer, device capable of performing a series of arithmetic or l...

Los Angeles

(Encyclopedia)Los Angeles lôs ănˈjələs, lŏs, ănˈjəlēzˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. A port of entry on the Pacific coast, with a fine harbor at San Ped...